Santa Anas: Weather Worthy of Satan

Published: October 28, 1993

Some people think the Santa Ana winds are named for Satan, from the Spanish word 'satanas.' They are not, but as millions of Southern Californians know, they easily could be.

Named for Santa Ana Canyon south of Los Angeles, where early settlers first observed them, the winds are most common in the fall.

Fred Gadomski of the meteorology department at Pennsylvania State University said they start when clockwise rotation of a huge high-pressure system to the east and north, over Utah, reverses the normal air flow from the west. The winds rush toward the sea, growing hotter and drier as they are compressed at lower altitude. As they are funneled through mountain canyons, they gain speed.

For restless days and nights they blow, hot and unsettling. Humidity drops to nearly nothing. After a couple of days the wood of houses dries so much it begins to creak. Soon cabinets, doors and drawers that used to fit warp and stick. Vegetation desiccates, and sometimes even plants with high water contents, like cactus, can burn like tinder.

A few hours of Santa Anas puts people on edge. They feel as if they cannot drink enough liquid. When the winds last for a week or more, as they often do, moods become worse. "It is the season of suicide and divorce and prickly dread, whenever the wind blows," Joan Didion wrote.

Mr. Gadomski said the current weather movements look as if this spell of Santa Anas will abate by tomorrow. But like a lurking evil, the larger weather pattern suggests they could begin again next week.